Title: The Fallen

Authors: HelloWolrd19 and Brummie10

Paring: None

Rating: Gen, action/drama

Disclaimer: we wish we owned Hotch, JJ, Reid, Morgan, Garcia, Prentiss, Rossi and all of Criminal Minds but sadly we don't.

Summary: a raid goes wrong for some of the BAU team.

Timeline: up to Catching Out.

Special thanks to : Laura and Kirst without their edit and help, I doubt this story would have ever have been finished.

"I've always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I never quit trying; I never felt that I didn't have a chance to win."

Arnold Palmer quote (American Golfer. b.1929)

"FBI, open up!"

The FBI waited a mere two seconds before busting down Trevor and Steward Gordon's front door. FBI agents rushed in, guns drawn, fingers on triggers, ready to shoot. They went from room to room, each time yelling "clear!" on their way out.

Agents Hotchner and Rossi went to the second floor while Morgan and Prentiss went to the basement.

Morgan went first, gun pointed at the foot of the stairs, the basement was poorly lit, he signalled to Prentiss to wait close to the stairs while he went to the darkest corner of the basement. "Clear!" He said and doubled back to Prentiss' position. She motioned to Derek that she would open the door at the foot of the stairs; he nodded. She turned the door knob "FBI!"

Nothing, the room was empty except for a dirty mattress that was lying in the middle of the room and old wooden chair that was propped against the wall just under a small window that was painted in black so that no light could enter the cold basement.

"Damn, nothing. Where the hell are the bastards?!?" Morgan asked as he looked around.

Emily grinned at Morgan "Maybe Hotch and Rossi will get lucky."

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

Hotchner and Rossi searched every room on the second floor, but found no sign of the brothers. As they stood in front of a closed door to the last room at the front of the house, Rossi nodded at Hotchner and opened it. Hotch went in, gun first. He never saw the first brother. The shot hit him on his left side, just under his kevlar vest. He staggered, turned around, looking for a target when a second shot hit him, this time in the chest. He crashed into a wall. "The other brother", he thought just before hitting the floor face first, unconsciousness welcoming the FBI agent.

Rossi resisted the urge to go in after Hotch; he could see the brothers' reflections in the glass of the only window of the second floor. Their glocks were aimed at the door.

"I know you are there g-man! Throw your gun in and get in here!" shouted one of the brothers.

Dave hesitated; he knew that if he did what the gunman was asking he would make a bad situation worse. The shooter would not only have one potential hostage but two. The decision was taken for him when the shooter said "Get in and close the door or I'll blow your partner's brains out! Do you hear me g-man?!?"

"Yeah, I hear you, I'm coming in just take it easy" he looked behind him, but no sign of either Prentiss or Morgan.

When he went in, what he saw scared him. Hotch was face down, not moving.

"The gun first!"

Rossi put his weapon on the hardwood floor and gave it a shove with his right foot. The gun came to a stop in the middle of the room.

"Get in and close the fucking door!"

Rossi did so. He watched one of the two men as he took Hotch's gun from his lax hand, hoping that Hotchner wasn't dead.

***

Having found an exit at the rear of the house, Morgan and Prentiss were on their way to check a small shed at the back of the yard when they heard the first shot coming from the front of the house. They sprinted back inside the house. Cautiously, they made their way through the kitchen. Then the second shot rang out. A loud thump made them both look up at the ceiling.

"Second floor" Prentiss said unnecessarily.

They got to the top of the second floor landing just as Rossi disappeared behind a closing door.

"What the hell is going on?" Morgan asked in a hushed voice.

"I don't know" Prentiss replied as she stared unbelievingly at the closed door. They walked slowly towards the door, guns pointed. Both agents were paying so much attention to the noise behind the door that they failed to notice the sound the creaking hardwood floor was making as they crept along. An angry voice stopped them.

"You have one minute to get the fuck out of our house before I shoot another g-man!"

"Calm down, we just want to talk." Morgan said in what he hoped was a non- confrontational tone.

"Fifty-five seconds, and counting!"

"Okay man, you win. We'll go… just don't shoot anybody."

Morgan went back to the main floor, followed by a pissed off Prentiss. "You're just going to leave them?!?"

"Out, now!"

As he left the house, Morgan made sure to slam the door behind him so that whoever had ordered them out would know they were out.

They went back to the SUV and called the police station for additional backup.

***

JJ and Reid arrived at the same time as the SWAT team. Both agents had stayed at the police station, JJ to deal with the inevitable media presence, Reid to work with Garcia on the videos found on the net.

Reid was the first to anxiously ask "What happened guys?"

"I don't know Reid" Morgan said as he stared at the second floor window of the Gordon's house.

"Do you know if they were hurt?" asked Spencer Reid.

"The guy who ordered us out said 'to get out of the house before I shoot another g-man' so yes, I think Hotch was shot." Prentiss said in what she hoped was a controlled voice. God knows, they were not in control now.

Reid, wide eyed, "Wh..at.. what makes you think that?"

"We saw Rossi close the door, so I'm guessing it was Hotch who got shot."

JJ took a deep breath before she looked straight into Morgan's eyes, "So, Morgan what do we do now?"

If there was a time that Derek wished that Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner was here leading the team, it was now. Hotchner was the authority when it came to hostage negotiation. Damn, the man had co-written the FBI book on the subject. Now, Morgan would have to do as well as his supervisor if they wanted to get their colleagues and friends back alive.

***

One of the Gordon brothers, Steward, had cuffed them, right hand for Rossi, left hand for Hotch, to a radiator. The senior profilers were sitting on the floor side by side, about a foot apart. Looking at Hotch, Dave saw that the younger man was still unconscious but was breathing. Rossi could see where the bullet had entered the agent's body. Blood was seeping slowly from the wound on his left side. Trevor Gordon had made a lucky shot, just under the bullet proof vest. The second shot, the one fired by Steward, had slammed into the Unit Chief's kevlar, the force of the shot had knocked him out cold. Rossi ran his left hand under the bullet proof vest without finding any blood. He was grateful for that.

Looking around the room, Rossi was unimpressed. It was small, poorly lit. The walls were painted a sickly yellow that would give anyone nausea. Dave noticed that the paint was peeling just over his head. 'Water must be seeping in' he thought. The only window in the room was in the center of the north wall, a dirty, cheap beige blind was keeping light out of the dusty room. The room was empty except for some boxes that were stacked against the wall in front of him. David could read some of the writing on these boxes, 'LP', 'Fragile', 'Old books', 'Mom's things'. There was nothing else in the room, making any sound reverberate. The door to the hallway wasn't giving any view to a sniper on the brothers who were in the hallway talking. Rossi sighed. The only way to get these bastards was either to make them walk in front the window (hopefully the blind will stay half lifted) thus giving a sniper a chance at taking them out, or have the SWAT team invade the house and hope they took the brothers out before they killed their hostages.

Thinking about the possibility of dying here didn't upset Rossi too much. He had no one that would cry if he died. Well, his lawyer might. He was sure that good old Bill Shapiro was still hoping that Dave would get married again. Bill kept saying that Dave, with all his divorces, had contributed to sending Shapiro's sons to college! Bill still had a daughter that was due to enter college in two years. Rossi had no kids so really, only his dog would miss him. Looking at Hotch, he knew that if Aaron died here, his son Jack would miss his dad. It was bad enough that father and son could only be together on weekends when Hotch wasn't occupied by a case or when Haley, Hotch's ex-wife, wasn't taking Jack to her mother's or sister's.

He had to figure out a way to get out of this situation before it became a lethal one for Hotch. Rossi watched the brothers; they were huddled in the far corner from him, talking in hushed voices. Trevor's back was to him so he couldn't see his facial expression but judging by his rigid stance, he was anxious. On the other hand, his brother's emotions were on display on his unattractive face. This younger one was worried. He kept looking at the agents and shaking his head in denial at the same time. Rossi didn't think it bode well for himself or for Hotchner.

Suddenly Steward grabbed his brother's upper left harm and shouted, "No! I'm telling you we should wait!"

"For what Stew?"

"I...I...we just can't Trevor."

For a brief second Trevor envisioned himself grabbing his brother's hands and just slapping them together so he would stop their perpetual movement. His brother's agitation irritated him to no end. "What do you think will happen to us once they get us Stew? Think they're going to just give us a slap on the wrist and make us promise not to do it again?"

"Nothing to say, Stew? No? " Steward was looking at his feet, refusing to defy his older brother, "Then just let's do it and get out of here!" Trevor took his gun out and marched resolutely toward their hostages.

Trevor kicked at Hotchner feet and was answered by a groan, "Wakey, wakey G-man."

It took Hotch a few seconds before he could focus his eyes on the man in front of him. The figure was too blurry for him to identify but since they had raided the Gordon brothers' home, it was safe to assume that the man standing in front of him was one of the Gordon boys. He looked at the man and said in what he hoped was an even, controlled tone "What do you want?"

"So you're not dead...yet g-man?" Trevor taunted.

Hotch just looked at his tormentor without saying anything, and waited.

"You're a cool one, aren't you g-man?"

"Listen, why don't you tell us what you want, and maybe we can help." Rossi said reasonably.

Looking at his brother, Trevor sneered. "Help? Do you hear that Stew? The man wants to help us." He looked back at the FBI profiler, "What can you do man? Can you make us walk out of here as free men?"

"You both know that's impossible, you did commit serious crimes."

Trevor pointed his gun at Rossi but looked at his frightened brother, "See Stew, I told you."

Steward didn't look at his brother but instead at Rossi with hopeful eyes, "What can you do mister? I don't want to go to the electric chair."

The kid was scared. Good, maybe he could be reasoned with, "Release us and we will put in a good word for you with the prosecutor." Without looking at Hotchner, "right Hotch?"

"Yes, we will." Hotch confirmed.

Seeing that he was losing control over his brother Trevor said, "Don't you listen to them feds, they're lying to you! They won't help you or me. They just want to lock us up before they can fry us!"

"No...no, no, no!" Steward was shaking and crying.

In two steps, Trevor was at his brother's side grabbing his brother's cold hands, "Trust me Stew, I'll get us out of this."

"But.."

"No 'but' Stew, we waste these two and then we sneak out of here."

Rossi looked at Hotch but his partner's gaze was locked on the brothers while he bent his left leg to get to the backup gun strapped on his ankle. He almost made it...

******

Comments are welcomed.